| There May Be Other Worlds Beyond Our Own, But I Don't Care... |
It seems like anytime a movie becomes embroiled in some form of controversy regarding its content, actors, or whatever the case may be, the controversy surrounding the picture seems to have the opposite effect from what was initially intended by those opposing whatever it was that had caused the uproar. The reason for this is because the controversy catches people's attention and causes some amount of interest to be generated due to the public's curiosity about what is so controversial in the film; so instead of turning people away from the movie as intended, the controversy ends up driving many people towards it. Now, this is generally the case for many of the controversial films that Hollywood releases; however, sometimes this is not the case and the controversy actually serves the purposes of those that were upset by the film. The latter just so happened to be the result of the massive controversy surrounding the recent fantasy release of Philip Pullman's novel "Northern Lights" called "The Golden Compass" starring Nicole Kidman ("The Invasion"), Daniel Craig ("007: Casino Royale"), and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards.
"The Golden Compass" is the story of a parallel world of fantasy and wonder, where a young girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is destined to hold the fate of the entire universe in her hands, as a powerful gift known as the Golden Compass is given to her to protect. As she begins to use the Compass more and more, Lyra discovers that her world and other world's beyond her own are being threatened by a dangerous woman known as Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). With the aid of a heroic man named Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) and a misfit group of allies that includes talking polar bears, Lyra begins her quest to save her world and the entire universe before it's too late.
I must admit that for me the controversy surrounding "The Golden Compass" did get my attention, and it did keep me from wanting to see the movie in theaters at least; however, I did still want to see it, if for no other reason than to see for myself if the controversy held any merit. If you are not aware of what the controversy surrounding this movie entailed, then I will enlighten you. Apparently when author Philip Pullman wrote his series of novels that comprise the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, he had one agenda in mind which was to attack Christianity, and make our benevolent and loving God into a being of corruption and oppression. Because of this agenda, which from what I've heard is significantly more prominent in the novels than in the movie adaptation, many religious groups opposed the film's release. In a rare turn of events the uproar surrounding a Hollywood film actually resulted in significantly diminished box office returns here in the states from what had been expected; however, overseas the box office was much more successful but the outcry was far less over there. Regarding the controversy, upon viewing the movie I can see in a few places where the story could be construed as being anti-Christian or anti-religion, but the story for the most part must have been so diluted from what was in the original novels, that I can't really see why the film caused as massive of an uproar. My guess is that most of the opposition was aimed at the books rather than the film, because what was contained in the film would have come off as nothing but typical fantasy movie content had no one pointed out the intent to be anti-Christian. Because if you really think about it, most fantasy movies feature elements that could be construed as anti-Christian or anti-religion, a prime example occurs in "Star Wars - Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" when Obi-Wan is fighting Anakin. In the scene, Obi-Wan says something along the lines of `Only a Sith speaks in absolutes', well as a Christian I speak in absolutes when I say that Jesus is the only way, so by that statement I could take what Obi-Wan was saying as a slap in the face to my religion, but I don't because I know it is a fantasy film and therefore I view it as nothing more than a work of fiction with no real bearing on the real world or my faith.
That's enough talk about the controversy surrounding the film, now it's time to focus on what I actually thought about the movie in general. I've got to say that as a fantasy film, "The Golden Compass" is not among the best entries into the genre, especially when compared to the far more superior films that have come before it in the forms of the `Lord of the Rings' trilogy and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". The pace in this film is incredibly slow, for the most part I was bored watching this movie, and was almost tempted to quit watching several times throughout the two hour running time. Working in the film's favor were the very entertaining fight scenes featuring the polar bears, which coincidentally would turn up around the time I would lose so much interest in the film that I was preparing to turn it off, but I wouldn't thanks to those scenes. Those fight scenes were incredible from the impressive CGI effects employed to create the armored polar bears, to the hard-hitting action contained within the scene, everything about those scenes were terrific. As entertaining as those fight scenes were, the brutality of the scenes actually pushed the movie into a much darker tone than I expected. Even without the fight scenes the movie's tone felt a bit darker than most fantasy movies, but when you add those scenes to the mix the tone really takes a turn for the dark, and most likely caused many parents to not give the movie much repeat business, if they gave it any business at all after word of mouth got out regarding the darker subject matter of the movie.
The actors in this movie were all very talented A-listers, but some of them seemed a bit wasted in their roles. Nicole Kidman seemed to be genuinely enjoying her scene chewing villainous turn as Mrs. Coulter, a role that was quite a bit different from anything we've seen from her previously in her career. Daniel Craig was good as Lord Asriel, but his role felt more like a cameo than an actual lead role in the film, which surprised me due to the marketing for the film making him seem like a major player in this movie. Most likely his character would see more screen time in the sequels that may or may not occur due to the lacking box office here in the states. Dakota Blue Richards was good as the young heroine, Lyra, although I sometimes felt she was a bit on the annoying side, but for a newcomer she did a good job handling such a large role that required a lot of imagination especially in the scenes where she is supposed to be interacting with her soul (as personified by various animals) or with talking bears. The voice-over actors that personified the various animals featured throughout the film were very good, and were actually the biggest highlights among the cast. From talented veterans Sir Ian McKellan (`Lord of the Rings' trilogy), Ian McShane ("We Are Marshall"), and Kathy Bates ("American Outlaws") to newcomer Freddie Highmore ("The Spiderwick Chronicles"), the animals were given some of the best voices in Hollywood with which to speak and the movie definitely benefited from their presence.
Overall, "The Golden Compass" was an extremely dull and boring entry into the generally entertaining fantasy genre. Boasting an incredible cast of actors and actresses, impressive visual effects, and very entertaining and hard-hitting fight scenes, "The Golden Compass" could have been among the best that fantasy had to offer; instead, the movie's poorly paced story drained it of any interest for me and left me wishing it would end sooner rather than later.
"The Golden Compass" is rated PG-13 for violence. |
2 Rating
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| Haven't read the book yet... |
As a viewer that hasn't read the book yet, I enjoyed this film very much. So much so that I have already purchased the books so that I can get the full picture and continue the tale. There are very few films that can match the quality and story of the novel they are based on. So, it's important to keep expectations at a reasonable level. Hundreds of pages do not shrink to less than 2 hours without losing something. After speaking with some of my friends who read the book, I think they kept to the spirit of the story if not the letter. Ironically, the film made far more money in Europe where the books are much more popular. However, I wasn't watching this for life lessons or implied religious themes. I wanted an interesting story, engaging characters and a fun adventure. They delivered all three with some awesome special effects to boot!
The acting by the adults in the film was a little over the top, but fit with the grand adventure style of story-telling. I completely bought Nicole Kidman as a snobby elitist who lives by "the ends justify the means." I liked that good actors were placed even in bit roles (such as Sam Elliot), but the young star and the animals truly stole the show. Lyra's character will appeal to fans of Hermione Granger and other smart little rebels. I found myself cheering for her and her daemon. The producers did a great job with the talking animals. They blended with the story very well. I never felt like they were zooming in on every animal every time - "see, the animals are talking!" This helped them feel more like characters in the movie than CGI stunts. The dialog between Lyra and Pan was much like between any two good friends at that age. And I loved the polar bear. Who wouldn't get excited about a massive polar bear wearing armor!? And voiced by Ian McKellan, priceless. The subject matter is a little more grave than other movies of this genre. The PG-13 rating was deserved, though much less so than movies like "Alien vs Predator"! The ending was a little abrupt, but seeing as it's based on the first book of a trilogy, I can't complain. The filmakers didn't leave viewers with a killer cliffhanger, just in case the second film isn't made (which I truly hope it is).
This 2-disc DVD set is nice. The extra features have a nice variety with your usual "making of" and behind the scenes stuff, but also a feature on the book and adaptation. The packaging is standard, though I really like the outer sleeves that so many special editions come with these days. There is no chapter insert - just an advertisement for the World Wildlife Fund and their promotion based on the film (adopt plush animals that represent endangered animals depicted in the film). I'm happy I bought the 2-disc set.
Overall, I thought this was an entertaining film, with great special effects and a unique story. I am glad I bought the DVD as I will certainly rewatch it. Though I missed seeing this in the theatre, I would definitely see the sequel on the big screen. Highly recommended to movie fans who haven't read the book and love a good adventure, and book fans who are open-minded about adaptations. |
5 Rating
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